Risk iPhoneReview

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Too little, too late.

By Levi Buchanan

Talk about two years too late. There are plenty of riffs on the classic board game Risk for your iPhone and iPad already on the App Store, but that hasn't stopped Electronic Arts from releasing the official version. And it's not a bad port of Risk at all. In fact, it's a rather nice recreation of the board game – not as flashy as the recent Xbox Live Arcade version with cat generals, but whatever. But with so many options out there -- cough, Dominion, cough -- and many for much less than EA's asking price (currently $4.99), recommending the real-deal is not a slum dunk.

If you've never played Risk – well, I'm not going to recap the entire board game here. Basically, it's a strategy game where you try to capture global territories. You allocate troops to regions, declare war on neighboring properties, and attempt to put the ultimate squeeze on your rivals. You can either go far all-out war against a rival which causes an instant win (but with devastating losses) or fight turn-by-turn with rolls of the dice. Each turn has three phases – deployment, battle, and fortification – and though battle sounds like the most important of the trio, smart Risk players know that fortifying to hold on to captured ground is indeed the most critical step.

Hooray for the yellow army.

Risk plays well. Moving your troops around the map is easy with the touchscreen. The interface is intuitive. As a Risk fan, I picked it up within seconds. This, though, is mind-boggling: you cannot play Risk online. You can play local multiplayer via WiFi and Bluetooth, but the basic fact that you cannot challenge a faraway friend to a game of Risk is a total bummer. Carcassonne, another awesome board game that was expertly ported to the iPhone, offers this feature and it works well. Online multiplayer for a turn-based game is Basic iPhone Gaming 101 now.

At least EA updated Risk with cool Wargames-like graphics, a good soundtrack, and portraits for each faction's general.

The Verdict

Now, I was a little negative on Risk right out of the gate. But that&#Array;s just because I want you to know that you have options. Lots of options &#Array; and cheaper options. Plus, other Risk-like games have more features than EA&#Array;s offering. But the toughest hurdle to clear here is the lack of online multiplayer. Risk needs this and it needs it pronto. Without it, I cannot recommend it &#Array; especially at this price.